Turkey Encore: Soup’s On!
December 2, 2009
When the last slice of Thanksgiving turkey has come off the carcass, Barbara uses all that is left in her usual thrifty manner. She takes the turkey bones and boils them for about 20 minutes with chunks of onion, celery, and a few carrots. Then she strains the solids out and adds chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, and whatever other vegetables are on hand. She adds salt and pepper, and sometimes a couple of chicken bouillon cubes. She adds a can of stewed tomatoes and some pasta and simmers it for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Sometimes she adds leftover green beans or vegetables from the holiday meal at the last minute, since they are already cooked. She serves this to her family with cornbread, so they can extend the holiday meal out for another day or two.
Pickle Juice
November 16, 2009
Barbara has discovered a use for leftover pickle juice. Since meat-tenderizer isn’t allowed on her husband’s diet, and since much of the meat she cooks needs some tenderizing, she has had to get creative in how she prepares the meat for cooking. Like many of us, she buys pickles and has a lot of juice left over in the jar after they are eaten. Since much of the juice is made up of vinegar, a natural meat tenderizer, she saves the juice in the jar. When it is time to prepare the meat, she puts it in a plastic bag, adds a quarter-cup of the pickle juice (for a roast or large piece of meat, use about a half-cup) and leaves it to marinate for about two hours. And then she cooks the meat as usual. This tenderizes the meat without adding as much sodium as is found in other meat tenderizers.
Meet Barbara Harris--wise woman, friend, caretaker. Discover her secrets for keeping a tidy, lovely, well-run home here at the Barbarock Blog.